Last year we’ve seen a lot of simple, even minimalistic designs, which impress not with the amount of presented information but with the way the information is actually presented. Complex layouts are giving way to simple 2-col- or 3-col layouts, which usually have large amount of white space without any content whatsoever.

Indeed, the importance of both white space and simplicity shouldn’t be underrated. Used correctly, they can enhance the performance of a web-site, improve readability and make a great first impression. Recently Mark Boulton has written an insightful article about Whitespace and its importance in web design. Very well written, it describes in a very simple, but clear way, how to deal with white space in practice and how to use it in your web-projects. We’ve collected some more articles on this topic. So what do we have?

Links checked: June/16 2008.

Simplicity:

<li><a href="http://www.digital-web.com/articles/simplicity_the_cobbles_of_the_designers_path/">Simplicity: The Cobbles of the Designer’s Path</a>

Stepheen Van Doren about wrong and correct use of simple solutions.

• Simplicity Is Highly Overrated Don Norman criticizes that the simplicity and minimalism lead to less functions and decrease the total performance of products.
• The Beauty of Simplicity Google is simple. But how did its developers achieve it?
• The Complexity of Simplicity Luke Wroblewski describes a complex path to simplicity, its features and reasons, why the simple solutions are more complex than complex solutions.

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplicity">Wikipedia: Simplicity</a>

Explains what simplicity is and related information about the topic.

White Space (Negative Space):

• Design Matters: White space About the potential power behind Negative Space.
• ALA: Whitespace An excellent introduction to the theory and use of whitespace, by Mark Boulton

<li><a href="http://uxmatters.com/MT/archives/000097.php">Developing the Invisible</a>

Luke Wroblewski gives examples of situations, in which white space is essential and explains, why it is indeed so significant.

<li>Negative Space Tutorial

This tutorial explains, how you can use White Space efficiently.

• On White Space in Graphic Design Keith Robertson about fields and areas, in which Negative Space dominates - primarily graphic design.
• Page Layout and Design for Digital Scrapbooking Carla Rose about the importance of White Space.
• Psychology Studies on Human Interaction Studies in psychology confirm: White Space improves the perception of information by 20%.
• The Importance of White space for Legibility This study compares 4 White Space Layouts and presents results about the influence of White Space in design.
• The value of white space Offers a detailed introduction in the theory of white space, with examples.
• Typography and White space White Space in practice: how can you guarantee an optimal legibility with CSS?
• Under The Loupe #1: White Space Jason Santa Maria: “Empty space serves a purpose and supports the visual integrity of a layout.”

Simplicity and White Space in Practice:

• Global White Space Reset Global Padding/Margin Reset in CSS-files can be used as a template for your web-projects.